Dubya comes to London...

[starbug]

... and nobody wants him here.

London will be on the highest terror alert it can muster (even higher than at the height of the IRA troubles) and (apparently at the behest of the whitehouse) is cordoning off vast areas of the city centre in order to accommodate him. The security measures are reputedly costing the city £4million - money that could be spent on hospitals and schools that we badly need.

Demonstrations are planned - Michael Moore is here as well and is doing his best to whip up fury... the whole thing is going to be chaos. Apparently the police are routing the demonstration around the cordoned off area so Dubya doesn't have to face the hoi poloi... from what I have just seen it will come right past my office. Hopefully Mr. Moore will be right at the front - it is quite exciting.

I can only imagine that the White House has no idea of the vociferous nature of anti-Bush sentiment in London.

Have a nice trip, Dubya!

[andrewgd]

hoi poloi...

I've never heard that phrase before...interesting.

Keep us updated as to how it goes. It really bothers me that protestors are kept outside of earshot.

[lance]

... and nobody wants him here.

London will be on the highest terror alert it can muster (even higher than at the height of the IRA troubles) and (apparently at the behest of the whitehouse) is cordoning off vast areas of the city centre in order to accommodate him. The security measures are reputedly costing the city £4million - money that could be spent on hospitals and schools that we badly need.

Demonstrations are planned - Michael Moore is here as well and is doing his best to whip up fury... the whole thing is going to be chaos. Apparently the police are routing the demonstration around the cordoned off area so Dubya doesn't have to face the hoi poloi... from what I have just seen it will come right past my office. Hopefully Mr. Moore will be right at the front - it is quite exciting.

I can only imagine that the White House has no idea of the vociferous nature of anti-Bush sentiment in London.

Have a nice trip, Dubya!

And I firmly hope that Michael More and the 60% of the British public who don't support the war will turn out to give me a very warm welcome indeed.

-Lance

[starbug]

Hoi Poloi is a phrase my mother uses... I guess it means the same as proletariat or plebians - but it has a rougher edge

And in London, I reckon it's even higher than 60% (more like about 80%)- it's going to get interesting, that's for sure.

I will keep you guys posted, of course... I read that the Bush Administration is insisting that they close off the area for the safety of Dubya. But of course the subtext that it's easy to see (and the media are all over it here) is that they want to keep the protests away from him. As someone who wrote her dissertation on the misuse of legislation and police powers to effectively undermine the freedom to protest, I will be watching this very closely indeed.

[lance]

hoi poloi...

I've never heard that phrase before...interesting.

Keep us updated as to how it goes. It really bothers me that protestors are kept outside of earshot.

Not just out of earshot but arrested even.

Now call me what you will but seems just silly in the extreme for supporters of the Administration to be allowed in closer by the Secret Service and his opponents kept farther away.

Hello! If all it takes to get close to the President is a "George in '04" button, then a problem exists that terroists could take advantage of.

-Lance

[andrewgd]

Congrats to your Mayor. He's got more balls than most of these gung ho american's have:

Yesterday Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, encouraged the anti-war protests by saying he had arranged a Peace Reception for prominent opponents of the war and subsequent "occupation" of Iraq, next Wednesday midway through the president's stay.

His anti-war party, costing £8,000 of taxpayers' money, has caused consternation at Downing Street.

It has infuriated Mr Blair who has been busy trying to lure the Left-wing Mayor of London - expelled from the Labour Party three years ago for standing as an independent in the mayoral race - back into the Labour fold in a gesture of conciliation to the Left.

An upbeat and unapologetic Mr Livingstone said yesterday that the event would bring prominent peace-minded people together and serve as a powerful anti-war "statement".

"I'm confining myself to putting on here a reception for those people who take an alternative view, representatives of the peace movement, Muslim organisations and Americans who disagree with George Bush's policies so that they can mingle amongst themselves and make a statement."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... wstop.html

[lance]

Another great link about Bush going to London:

http://www.thenation.com/outrage/index.mhtml?bid=6
Find out what else the Admistration asked the British, and Londoners in particular, to do for Bush. Find out what British officals said about these requests.

-LanceMan

[grim4746]

I think anyone who finds himself "infuriated" by something called a "Peace Reception" desperately needs to reconsider his values, or possibly just accept himself as he is and begin publicly raving about 'the great satan'. People who are threatended by the idea of peace are very troubling.

[starbug]

I meant to post back on this thread on Thurs, but the site was down... so this is prob old news by now but hey...

There were huge protests right around my office, and although my boss had forbidden me from marching without taking annual leave to do it (fair enough, but I don't have any left til Christmas) he did allow me to go down for 10 mins or so. The atmosphere was amazing and what really came across was that people were out protesting on a wide range of Bush's policies, not just on Iraq...

The protesters were allowed to march past Parliament in the end but they certainly didn't get anywhere near Bush... who was living in a bubble in this mockery of a state visit. He met some of the families of victims of 9/11 but apart from that I think he was kept away from joe public.

I read that the security measures that the queen refused included hovering a blackhawk above Buckingham Palace for the duration of Bush's stay, and reinforcing the windows of Buckingham Palace with bullet proof glass (for god's sake). Good on you, queenie.

An interesting anecdote is that my colleague, who lives across the river from MI6, has had no TV reception for the entirety of Bush's visit. She has to have digital anyway because the signals from MI6 scramble ordinary analogue... but while Bush was here not even digital would work.

I personally am glad the protesters were out in such force but unfortunately I have read in the press that many Americans were offended by the protests against their president. It's sad, because the feeling wasn't anti-American it was definitely anti-Bush.

[Chase Cat]

This is fully out of political context, but I read the Queen was absolutely not amused about Bush's visit at Buckingham Palace. It was reported that the palace staff has never seen the Queen that angry.

The President's helicopter and two supporting Black Hawks have damaged trees survived since time of Queen Victoria. George's security service men have trampled several exotic and very precious plants. The palace's perfectly maintained lawn also shows now three big H landing marks. The repair bill is about thousands of pounds.

Not enough, even the Royal flamingos were traumatized. The staff had to resettle them to an unknown place while Bush visited London. Now they cannot catch the flamingos, because the animals fear another time captivity. Maybe they will never return to the palace.

[Nothingman]

I, for one, am not offended by the protests. I'm pleased that so many people protested. It sent a very strong message. Of course the American media downplayed it. They showed Bush driving a hundred yards in the limosine from the back to the front of the pallace. They talked about the added security, then mentioned that there were protesters, and quickly moved onto the next story.

I'm not surprised that the Queen was angered by Bush's manors. He doesn't have a clue how to be a propper president, it's no wonder he can't be propper house guest.

[starbug]

yeah, the BBC down-played the protests too... my guess is that they were sat on by the government again. You could find other sites that covered it well, and Stop the War figures are at 100,000 - 150,000. Of course the Met Police say it was around 22,000 but this is clearly a lie.

I just can't believe that Bush and Blair thought this visit was a good idea. I'd say it's probably the single biggest thing that will damage Blair's chances of re-election. Just when everyone was (very) slowly beginning to forget why they were angry a few months ago, Bush arrives in all his arrogance to remind us. Tony blindly wants us to accept that this special relationship between the US and Britain means more than that Britain is down on its knees in front of US demands. What benefit is there in this special relationship with Bush's government, for Britain? I can honestly see none. Honestly.

British prisoners in Guantanamo bay. still no clear indication on the nature or timing of their trials.
Steel tariffs which are really damaging the economy here in Europe.
War on Iraq and a general palpable increase in terrorism.
Environmental ignorance and 'we're all right Jack' attitude from the US.

Anyway, I'd better stop or I'll make myself angry again...

I watched a recent BBC World Service documentary on the presidency of JFK. The difference in International Relations was astounding. One can only hope that Dubya was watching because he has a lot to learn.